CIM & MOF Tutorial

The Common Information Model (CIM) is described in the DMTF's Managed Object Format (MOF), a language based on IDL (the Object Management Group's Interface Definition Language). The MOF syntax is a way to describe object-oriented class and instance definitions in textual form, with the goals of human readability and parsing by a compiler. The main components of a MOF specification are textual descriptions of element qualifiers (meta-data about classes, properties, methods, etc.), comments and compiler directives, and the specific class and instance definitions that convey the semantics of the CIM Schema.

Download the tutorial

Now available for use with a browser. This Tutorial is designed to help you understand the principles of modeling management data using the Common Information Model (CIM) Schema, and the encoding and transport of this data via Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) standards. Download it in .pdf format for use offline.

MOF

A MOF file can be encoded in either Unicode or UTF-8 format. MOF files are text files that contains definitions of classes and instances using the Managed Object Format (MOF) language. They can be edited using the your favorite text editor or tool of choice. DMTF members can access the members-only CIM/WBEM Tools Web page.

Learn More

You can learn more about the Managed Object Format in the CIM Tutorial 'Specifying Schema' section, or by reading the CIM Specification.